[COMMUNICATED] Watch the video of the adorable Holtzman kids lighting the Chanukah menorah and you would never guess that anything is wrong.
One person, however, is conspicuously missing from the touching family scene.
Raizel Holtzman a”h was diagnosed with cancer almost two years ago. She suffered terribly, and was eventually hospitalized. The Holtzmans did everything to save their mother, but even a complex surgery in America could not save her life.
On Erev Rosh Hashanah of this year, Raizel Holtzman passed away. She leaves her husband Yankel and eight children behind.
Raizel was the one who always supported the family. Now, Yankel Holtzman is faced with the almost impossible task of supporting his family from nothing. Family members try to help when they can, but there funds are limited. And, as Yankel so eloquently states: “The pain is still fresh, I am working on supporting my family, but I need help to stand on my own two feet.”
An emergency fundraising campaign has been opened under the auspices of Vaad Harabanim. It is indeed an emergency campaign: because despite the smiles on the children’s faces: there is no money for breakfast tomorrow morning, or for school fees, or food for Shabbos Chanukah or anything else.